Fordham University Students Win Landmark Fight to Establish Palestine Club

Judge Orders University to Recognize Students for Justice in Palestine Club

August 6, 2019, New York – Five Fordham University students have won a landmark legal
victory against Fordham University, which sought to prohibit them from forming
a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) club at their university. The
students, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Palestine Legal,
and cooperating counsel Alan Levine, argued that Fordham University violated
its own rules when, in 2016, it vetoed the United Student Government’s approval
of SJP, preventing the students from forming the SJP club.

The Court annulled Fordham’s
decision to deny SJP club status, finding it arbitrary and capricious, as
nothing in Fordham’s rules permitted it to “reject an application of a student club because it criticized the policies of
only one nation.” In her ruling, Justice Nancy Bannon stated that “it
must be concluded that [Fordham University’s] disapproval of SJP was made in
large part because the subject of SJP’s criticism is the State of Israel,
rather than some other nation, in spite of the fact that SJP advocates only
legal, nonviolent tactics aimed at changing Israel’s policies.”

Justice Bannon noted that “the
consideration and discussion of differing views is actually part of Fordham’s
mission, regardless of whether that consideration and discussion might
discomfit some and polarize others.”

Awad, et al. v. Fordham University is the first lawsuit in the country challenging
institutional censorship of students advocating for justice in Palestine, and
this win marks the first major legal victory for free speech for advocates of
Palestine on college campuses.

“The
administration unfairly hindered my and my fellow classmates’ abilities to
advocate for the human rights of Palestinians,” said Ahmad Awad, who graduated
from Fordham University in 2017. “Although over 1,000 days have passed since we
initiated the process for club status, I did not give up on my fight for human
rights and free speech. I continued to advocate for justice in Palestine, and
now because of Justice Bannon’s order, no Fordham student will be restricted or
prohibited from advocating for justice in Palestine.”

Said Veer Shetty, who attorneys argued on his behalf in
February to add him to the complaint since the last original petitioner
graduated in May, “I am beyond happy that Judge Bannon chose to uphold the
supposed values of our university and academic freedom. A huge thank you goes
to everyone worked on our behalf. Fordham’s Students for Justice in Palestine
would not exist today without all of their tireless efforts. We, as a new club,
will be equally tireless in our efforts to fight for the rights and dignity of
the Palestinian people.”

Said Sapphira Lurie, who graduated from Fordham University
in 2017, “When universities promise they are
‘committed to research and education that assist in the alleviation of poverty,
the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights and respect for the
environment,’ as Fordham defines as its university characteristics, they must
allow students to pursue this education. Rather than allow Fordham’s
administration to impose its backwards and imperialist politics on us, we were
victorious in the fight for students’ rights to organize for justice for
Palestine. This victory shows that when we fight back, we can win. Free
Palestine!”

The lawsuit, filed in April 2017,
argued that Fordham’s veto of the student government’s

approval of SJP was arbitrary and
capricious, violating its own policies. In November 2017, the students filed a
motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to direct the university
to recognize SJP urgently, as some of the students had graduated and others
would soon graduate. Last night, Judge Bannon granted the students’ petition
and unambiguously ordered Fordham University to “recognize Students for Justice
in Palestine at Fordham University as a university-sanctioned club…”

“We are thrilled that students at
Fordham will finally be able to form a Students
for Justice in Palestine club,” said Center for Constitutional Rights
Deputy Legal Director Maria LaHood. “The
students’ support for Palestinian rights and their demand to freely express
that support truly exemplifies Fordham’s stated values, unlike the
Administration’s shameful actions here.”

Said Levine, “Fordham’s decision to deny recognition to
Students for Justice in Palestine was so utterly arbitrary and irrational that
it can only be understood in the context of the nationwide effort to silence
those voices seeking justice for Palestinians. In succumbing to those forces,
Fordham abandoned its obligation to foster critical points of view on matters
of public concern. Justice Bannon’s principled decision reasserts the
judiciary’s role to ensure that voices of marginalized communities will be
heard. Nothing could be more important at this moment.”

Said Radhika Sainath, senior staff
attorney at Palestine Legal, “The judge rightly recognized that students trying
to start an SJP were being singled out for censorship because they cared about
Palestinian freedom. But yesterday’s decision makes clear, there can be no
Palestine exception to speech at Fordham.”

Palestine Legal
and the Center for Constitutional Rights have documented “the
Palestine Exception” to free speech, the broad and growing pattern of
suppression of activism for Palestinian rights across the United States,
particularly on college campuses. Tactics used to suppress Palestine advocacy
include administrative disciplinary actions, harassment, firings, baseless
legal complaints, legislative attacks, and false accusations of terrorism and
antisemitism. Palestine Legal has documented 1,247 incidents of suppression
targeting speech supportive of Palestinian rights between 2014 and 2018.

For more information, visit the
Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page.

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